2003 VW Jetta 1.8T Wolfsburg Overheating

[SoaringUSAEagle]

Well I am in quite the spot right now. My wife's car had a coolant hose leak, so we found a replacement connector and fixed the leak. All was well for about two weeks and now the car is overheating within a minute of driving it. At an idle it sits right at 190F as it has for years.

I replaced the thermostat yesterday to no avail. The antifreeze reservoir seems to be under quite a lot of pressure, with a lot of air being passed through the lines. I was hoping that once I was able to get some air moved out of the lines that it'd go back to normal but it isn't doing so. I jacked the passenger side up to assist the air out, but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick.

I do not believe that the water pump is bad. I do not hear any unusual noises or anything like that.

I also believe that a head gasket is ruled out as being bad because I do not have white smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe.

There is no water/coolant in the oil or vise versa.

Do I need to do a full radiator flush? I think a pressure test is in order as well, but I wanted to see what you folks have to say. I am stumped on this one. Thank you.

[dougbfresh]

Not familiar with that car but, is there a provision to burp the air our of the system? Did the T-stat have a burping hole in it that needs to be in a particular orientation when you install it?

[SoaringUSAEagle]

Originally Posted by dougbfresh

Not familiar with that car but, is there a provision to burp the air our of the system? Did the T-stat have a burping hole in it that needs to be in a particular orientation when you install it?

I'm not sure about the burping, nor the hole that the tstat would have had. I didn't see it.

[dougbfresh]

You need to find a service manual for your car, you need to know the answers to the above questions.

[danny]

there has to be a way to get the air out of the system, maybe where you bought the t-stat could help.

[olddog]

If the radiator is pressurizing within a minute of starting the engine, it is most likely combustion pressure leaking into the coolant. I would pressure test it. I do not think the absence of white smoke totally rules out a blown gasket, or worse a cracked head.

I have found it best to back my Cobra over a hill to fill it and burp all the air out. My Tstat did not come with the small hole in it so I drilled an 1/8" hole myself.

[SoaringUSAEagle]

I appreciate all the help. I am also thinking now that there is still air in the system that is needing to be bled out. I will look into it more within the coming days as I find time to check for a place to let the air bleed out... perhaps a screw or something like that.

I'll also pull the tstat again and check for the hole - I just dont recall seeing one.

[Saltmine]

White smoke from water vapor wouldn't show up anyway, since the catalytic converter would have turned it into live steam or just incenerated the vapor.

[SoaringUSAEagle]

Well the car is in the shop. We shall see what happens from here.

[SoaringUSAEagle]

Bad water pump. The timing belt also needs to be replaced. These two items are still under our extended warranty coverage thank goodness! I'll keep you all updated but that seems to be the problem. I just hope it hasnt caused other issues.

[SoaringUSAEagle]

Got the car back today... all is well with a new water pump, and timing belt.

[dougbfresh]

Originally Posted by SoaringUSAEagle

Got the car back today... all is well with a new water pump, and timing belt.

Funny, water pumps generally fail with a leak out the weephole. Wonder how yours died?

[SoaringUSAEagle]

I have no idea but the impellers were chewed to heck.

[dougbfresh]

Originally Posted by SoaringUSAEagle

I have no idea but the impellers were chewed to heck.

That's usually when the bearing goes and the impellers start to hit the engine-usually they leak like a sieve before this happens.

[SoaringUSAEagle]

The only leak I had was when a hose connector broke, about two weeks before this whole incident happened.